Grand jury indicts man in Newport News couple's slaying

NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News grand jury indicted a 31-year-old man on murder charges this week in the 2012 shooting deaths of a husband and wife.

Brian Thomas Smith, of Hampton, was indicted Monday on two counts of first-degree murder and firearms charges in the shooting deaths of Katherine Diane Parker, 47, and Eddie Arnold Ezzell III, 43. The husband and wife were found dead in their RV on March 16 at 51 Dean Ray Court.

Police charged Smith in June in connection with their deaths. A trial date has been set for Feb. 26.

Police say they received a tip from a Crime Line caller who named Smith as the shooter in the double homicide at Davis Mobile Home and RV Park. Smith was arrested and charged at his home on Somerset Lane.

Police say the motive in the shootings was related to prescription drugs and robbery. Nothing was taken from the home, according to police.

Family members said the couple knew Smith for more than a year. Ezzell worked as a contractor for Smith, who owns a construction business, according to court documents.

There were no signs of forced entry into the RV, according to police. In interviews after the couple's deaths, family and friends said they thought the couple knew their killer because their pit bull, Spot, was very protective of the couple's home, yet the dog was loose in the RV when their bodies were found.

In the past two years, Parker had become ill — days before she was found dead, she was sick with pneumonia. Family members said she was scheduled to have open-heart surgery around the time of her death.

The couple was married for about eight years. Ezzell was known as a handyman who would do maintenance work around the park. The couple had lived in the RV for two years after moving from Hampton. Friends and neighbors described Parker as a giving woman who would keep her house stocked with canned goods for those in need.